Month: October 2014

NaNoWriMo 2014

~ Shara ~ Leave a comment

I’ve never done this before. When I first heard of NaNoWriMo, I scoffed at it. A mere 50k words make a novel? Please! But over the years, I’ve let go of my writing snobbery, and I’ve begun to recognize NaNoWriMo for what it really is: a chance for writers of all types to sit down and really get the words out, just to prove they can, or maybe to get a jumpstart on a project that would languish otherwise.

But most of all, it’s to have fun.

I’m a competitive sort, and when a friend of mine mentioned she was seriously considering NaNoWriMo this year, I started thinking about it. When she started egging me on, I looked at my project that I started earlier this year, that I got fantastic feedback for earlier this month, and realized this might be the jumpstart I need. It’s not a normal novel for me: it’s not science fiction, it’s not fantasy. It’s the here and now. It’s about my backyard, geographically speaking. It’s about the mountains and music and madness.

And I have to say, I’m looking forward to discovering it.

Participant-2014-Web-BannerIf you’re on the site, feel free to add me and follow my progress, cheer me on, and let me cheer YOU on if you are also embarking on this crazy journey! While Ghostcatcher is not my first novel, it is the first one I’ve attempted to write for NaNoWriMo. It’s also the first novel I’ve attempted to write on a laptop. So let’s just say I’m feeling very, very green.

November’s almost here! If you’re participating in NaNoWriMo, are you ready? Feel free to send me links to your pages, and tell me about your projects!

But in the meantime, Happy Halloween!

Culture Consumption: September 2014

~ Shara ~ 7 Comments

Well, this is late. Due to the lateness, and the fact that frankly, September was a great reading month, I’m not going to post reactions to anything I read or watched; however, if you have questions, I’m happy to discuss in the comments.

Books

27) Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
28) Maplecroft by Cherie Priest
29) If I Stay by Gayle Forman
30) Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
31) WWW: Wake by Robert Sawyer (DNF)
32) House of Leaves by Mark C. Danielewski (DNF)
33) A Stranger in Olondaria by Sofia Samatar (DNF)

I should note: these DNF titles were simply because other books grabbed my interest and by time I thought about going back to the titles I’d set aside, I was no longer in the mood. The Danielewski is one I’ll have to start over anyway, and I’ll need a new plan of attack for reading it. I also see myself giving the Samatar another go at a later time. I should also note that the DNF titles are ones that have been waiting patiently for months and months, but September was when I finally threw in the towel. 🙂

Comics

Individual Issues:

Batgirl: Future’s End #1
Batman #34
Batman Eternal #20
Batman Eternal #21
Batman Eternal #22
Batman Eternal #23
Batwoman #34
Black Widow #10
Caliban #6
Coffin Hill #9
Coffin Hill #10
Copperhead #1
Fairest #28
Low #2
Ms. Marvel #8
Papa Midnite #1
Papa Midnite #2
Papa Midnite #3
Papa Midnite #4
Papa Midnite #5
Saga #22
Sex Criminals #7
Supreme Blue Rose #2
The Fade Out #1
The Manhattan Projects #23
The Massive #26
The Unwritten: Apocalypse #7
The Unwritten: Apocalypse #8
The Walking Dead #131

Movies

Killer Legends
Room in Rome

Television Shows

Homeland: seasons 2 & 3

That’s it from me! Also, feel free to share whatever 2014 stats you’ve got! How many books? How many movies? What were your favorites? Lay them on me!

Cheers!

A New Way to Chronicle Life

~ Shara ~ 4 Comments

Later this month, I’ll be spending An Evening with David Sedaris. I’ve been a fan of his thanks to his segments and stories on This American Life, and when I heard he was coming to town, I decided this was something I really, really wanted to see in person. But I haven’t read any of his books, and after learning how personable he is and how it’s likely I might get a chance for him to sign something before or after the show, I decided to pick up a few titles and brush up.

I’m almost finished with Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls: Essays, Etc.. I started with that over Me Talk Pretty One Day because, let’s face it, with a title like Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, how can I not start there? I’ve been wanting to buy this book for the title alone for years. Well, months really. The book only came out last year.

The point of all this babbling was this little gem: in the essay titled, “Day In, Day Out,” Sedaris talks about how he became a frequent diarist: it starts out with a small notebook that’s always with him, where he writes various observations and notes about his day, and then either at the end of the day or the next morning (I wasn’t sure which), he compiles said observations and notes into a diary, one that he keeps electronically, something private. He talks about how a very small percent of his diaries end up as part of his books, or part of his shows, but that despite it all, keeping this diary, which he’s done for years, is something that’s a part of him. He can’t imagine life without it.

What struck me was the comments about the little notebook. I’m bad about having notes and observations of things I’d like to share or write about, scribbling them on sticky notes, and letting those sticky notes pile into stacks of potential confetti. And this little notebook idea… it’s appealing. Not because I want to sit down each and every night and write up my day. That would take a lot of dedicated time, and I’m by and large a fiction writer, not an essayist. That being said, some of my own observations would make for some, in my mind, interesting posts. Short posts, I would hope, and it could be something that could finally get the fuel going into posting regularly on this blog. Something I’ve been wanting to do since I’ve opened it, and I’ve tried to do with little success, but gotten bored with/distracted from/name your excuse.

But short, sweet, random observations about my day? Embracing the way I view the world in all its randomness? May not be a bad way to go.

I’m not going to sit here and say I’ll definitely do it. I will sit here, however, and say, don’t be surprised if I do.

Let’s go find a notebook.

Aventures In Traveling

~ Shara ~ Leave a comment

On Friday, I hit the road for a workshop weekend, and I just returned home today. It was, in short, a fantastic trip, and I’ve got some very reflective thoughts to share some day, but today is not that day.

Today is the day where I will amuse, amaze, and bewilder you:

1) My very first pit stop on Friday was at a rest area. I was about an hour and a half into driving when nature called, and I debated pulling off the interstate, thinking I could hold it for another 30-40 miles. I decided not to be cruel to my bladder, and did what I had to do. However, it was while answering nature’s call that I received a VERY IMPORTANT PHONE CALL from work. It was of the good news variety, but I’m also, yanno, indisposed. In the process of trying to figure out a way to keep background noise from leaking through the call, I manage to hang up on this very important person and couldn’t call back because it’s not a direct line. Fortunately, the very important person called back, and at this point, I was in far better shape to receive a call.

2) My second pit stop was at a Subway, and of course, in addition to eating, I also had to use the bathroom (I promise, not all of these are about the bathroom). Before I get up to toss the trash, a group of kids (young men, tall and skinny, probably high school/college-aged soccer players or cross-country runners) come in and line up at the counter. A smaller group of the guys head straight back to the bathroom, and when I went to the ladies room, the door unlocked right before I got there and a guy walked out. I figure, why not? Subway only has one toilet for men, one for women, and when you gotta go, you gotta go. However, my rather relaxed attitude evaporated when I saw the guy hadn’t flushed. I seriously, and honestly, do not understand why people don’t flush toilets, men or women. Is it because they’re the product of helicopter parents who do everything for them? If that’s the case, it’s a wonder this guy knew to wipe.

3) First night in the hotel, I decided to try out the heater, simply because I was alone in the room and I could make it as toasty as I wanted. Based on the burnt-toast smell coming from said heater, it was the first time it’d been turned on for the season. I wasn’t worried, because I knew that would go away, so I crawled back under the covers, just in time to hear the smoke alarm shriek bloody murder. At midnight. It’s a wonder the whole hotel didn’t wake up. The good news is I burned nothing down, got the heater fixed, and slept nice and toasty during my stay.

4) On my way home, I stopped at a Chick-Fil-A for lunch. I’ve yet to have bad customer service at this franchise, and today was above and beyond the call of good customer service. It’d just started to rain when I arrived, but while I was eating, the rain decided to level up to monsoon levels. Lots of wind, lots of hard rain. I wait for it to let up, pull up my hood and prepare myself for the sprint to my car, when one of the employees gestures to a stack of umbrellas by the door and offers to walk me to my car. And after determining the offer was indeed genuine, he did. I still got a bit wet (it’s really hard to stay dry when the wind makes the rain sideways), but I was a lot dyer than I would’ve been otherwise. Thanks, Chick-Fil-A!

And those are my random adventures from traveling this weekend, preserved here in the interwebs in case I ever forget.

Reading: Perdition by Ann Aguirre
Watching: Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Gotham, Sleepy Hollow